Ministry of Women and Child Development
NCPCR Organizes Virtual Regional Conclaves On PM Cares For Children Scheme
In order to foster sensitization regarding various aspects of PM Cares for Children Scheme, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights  organized 4 virtual Regional Conclaves on PM Cares for Children Scheme on 22/04/2022 and 23/04/2022. PM Cares for Children Scheme was launched by the Prime Minister of India on 29th May 2021 to provide comprehensive support for children who have lost both their parents or legal guardians or Adoptive Parents or Surviving Parents to the COVID-19 pandemic. This Scheme enables the well-being of such children through health insurance, empowers them through education, and equips them for self-sufficient existence with financial support. The Ministry of Women and Child Development has been anchoring the Scheme, which is leveraging technology to identify, register and support the children through an online portal.
The Virtual Conclave for North Eastern and Eastern Region covering the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal and Western Region covering the States/UTs of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh was organized on 22nd April, 2022.
On 23rd April, 2022 the Virtual Conclave was organized with the States/UTs from Northern Region including Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and States/UTs from Southern Region including Andhra Pradesh, Telengana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Andaman and Nicobar Island and Puducherry.
In his welcome address, Shri Priyank Kanoongo, Chairperson, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights  highlighted that the objective of this conclave is to sensitize and bring-in the roles being played by all the stakeholder Departments. He also mentioned that the Prime Minister of India is playing the role of a guardian to the children who have become orphans to extend them protection up to 23 years with educational support, health care, scholarship etc. There are such children in all the districts and it is our request to link those children with the PM Cares for Children Scheme so that these children get all the benefits of the Scheme, he added.
Giving the Keynote address, Shri Indevar Pandey, Secretary, Ministry of Women and Child Development Government of India mentioned that PM Cares for Children Scheme which was launched on 29th May, 2021 having 4 components including financial support, boarding and lodging, education & scholarship and Health Insurance under PMJAY. He further gave a detailed overview of the Scheme and roles of various Ministries in the execution of the scheme. Shri Indevar Pandey applauded the efforts of NCPCR in organizing the 4 Regional Conclaves for Eastern & North Eastern Region, Western Region, Northern Region and Southern Region.
The thematic Sessions of the Conclave were presented by the officers from all stakeholder Ministries/Departments. In all four Conclaves more than 6700 officers from various States/UT Govt. Departments attended the “Regional Conclave on PM Cares for Children”. The participants of this conclave were authorities and officials including  Deputy Commissioner/District Collector/District Magistrate Chairperson and Members of Child Welfare Committee District Child Protection Officer - Unit In-charge of DCPU District Program Officer  District Education Officer  District Representative of Higher Education/Representative of Lead College of District for Higher Education  Chief Medical Health Officer  District Representative of Department of Tribal Affairs District Representative of Department of Minority Affairs  District Representative of Department of Social Welfare participated in the meeting.
National Commission for Protection of Child Rights  is a statutory body constituted under provision of the Commission for Protection of Child Rights  Act, 2005  for protection of child rights and other related matters. Along with its other functions and roles, the Commission under Section 13   of the CPCR Act, 2005 is mandated to; “spread child rights literacy among various sections of the society and promote awareness of the safeguards available for protection of these rights through publications, the media, seminars and other available means”.